Starting a warrior
Introduction So, you're thinking of playing a Warrior? This page is intended to give a short overview of what to do over the first 10 levels or so, just to get you started on the right path. If you're looking for more of an overview of the class's abilities, see the main warrior page. For more advanced topics, see the Warrior Tactics. Race Selection If you're a power-player, you'll want to consider the various Racial Traits when choosing what race to play. You might also consider the racial stats, but after the first 20 levels or so these become largely irrelevant, as the items you've gained will far outstrip any racial bonuses. For more casual gamers, there's really no major difference between the races - choose the race that you want to play, whether for its looks, its voice, or because its simply good fun! Below is a quick overview of Races from the warrior's perspective - see the Races page for more detailed information which isn't of specific interest to warriors, and the Racial Traits for more detailed explanations of the traits mentioned below. * Alliance ** Dwarves - Stoneform handy in many PvP and PvE encounters. ** Gnomes - Once Escape Artist is Instant Cast this race will be a good option verse Mages and most other classes come The Burning Crusade. ** Humans - Reputation bonus makes all Human classes worthy, and +Sword and Mace makes Human Warriors the best tanks in the game. ** Night Elves - Most notable ability and only one is Shadowmeld, very handy in many PvP encounters. * Horde ** Orcs - Axe bonus, Fury (str boost), Hardiness (inc. resistance to stun/knockout). ** Tauren - War Stomp (stun) and Endurance (5% Health boost). These make the best Tanks on Horde, even though it is only a small difference. ** Trolls - The worst Horde race in terms of racials, the only notable ability is Berserking which increases Attack Speed depending on health levels. ** Undead - Will of the Forsaken which makes Undead Warriors Warlock-killers (as well as many other PvP encounters) as well as being a stable ability in PvE where charm, sleep or fear gets you. Cannibalise (Cannibalize) is very handy in Solo PvE and PvP encounters also (when used well). All in all, in terms of racials (and not looks). All Alliance Warriors are good for PvP, Human is by far the best for PvE. Horde, all except Troll have worthy racials in both PvP and PvE. *Please note that beginning racial status (Orc having more Strength then Undead) have little or no effect in end-game (at level 60 or 70). Early Leveling The easiest way to progress through the early levels is to simply do any and all quests you can find. Not only will you breeze through the first 5 to 10 levels, but you'll get useful gear and precious money. Money is particularly important so you can purchase new abilities and equipment. You will spend levels 1 to 5 in your starting town. Make sure you get all the abilities you can from your trainer. Between level 5 and 6 you'll find yourself heading off to your second town and a new trainer who can teach you various things. At the second town, repeat the process - do each and every quest you can find. It's important to keep up with your abilities and your gear. Now is also an appropriate time to start training in your chosen professions. For more advanced information see the Warrior Tactics page. Level 1 Initially, you're equipped with a melee auto-attack and one melee enhancement. Engage mobs from melee range with auto-attack, and spam Heroic Strike whenever available. If you have enough rage for the next mob, open combat with Heroic Strike. Notable Early Quests '' The intention is to link into the Quests page here with a few low-level quests once they are added, with particular emphasis on including quests with nice rewards for the class; especially any class-specific quests. Wondering if this section should be moved to a separate page of its own as it may get quite long? I won't take offence if someone moves it! -- Goldark 09:06, 21 Nov 2004 (EST)'' The following lists are not intended to be comprehensive, but cover a selection of the best quests in the starting areas from levels 1 to 10. Dwarves/Gnomes * Quest 1 * Quest 2 * etc Humans * Brotherhood of Thieves - Nice early weapon upgrade Night Elves * Quest 1 Orcs/Trolls * Quest 1 Tauren * Quest 1 Undead * The Scarlet Crusade Early weapon upgrade. On Soloing and Grouping Soloing Warriors rely on rage, so it helps if you can move quickly from one mob to the next. In the first 5 levels or so, you shouldn't really need to stop killing. Later on you may find your health starts getting low - then you will have to stop and rest, and perhaps eat some food until you're ready again. Use all your abilities as you get them, and don't neglect your Battle Shout. Grouping Grouping isn't all that different from soloing. At these levels any class can pretty much look after itself, but be ready to help out a weaker caster class if you see them under attack - always protect your healer! Ask your group to "assist" you to ensure you focus your party's firepower on one mob. They can do this by selecting you (use the F1-F5 keys to target group members) and then pressing "F". This way, mobs will die faster. Useful Professions The warrior can benefit directly and indirectly from many of the professions available. Primary Professions * Herbalism & Alchemy : Herbalism and Alchemy are useful for the warrior and are essentially two Primary Professions that go hand in hand. Herbalism allows the gathering of various herbs and the Alchemy profession allows the creation of various potions for use. Healing potions are the best way to heal yourself while soloing and never underestimate what an Agility or Defense potion will do for you. Potions will stack so you can have several active at one time provided they do not override each other. Rage potions are quite valuable. Give Mana potions to your caster friends. * Mining & Blacksmithing : A very popular combination for Warriors. Mining allows you to get the resources required for blacksmithing. You can then smith yourself your own armor and weapons - great! You can also sell items you make for a nice profit. * Engineering / Mining : Engineering is also pretty useful - you can make yourself some dynamite and a number of other handy gadgets. Best coupled with mining as it is heavily reliant on metals. However, most engineering items require engineering to use so you're less likely to make lots of money from this trade. Guns and Sights are one notable exception to this. * Leatherworking / Skinning : Warriors can wear Leather armor but why would you want to when you can wear mail from the start and plate armor at level 40? High level leather workers can make mail armor with nice resistances but nothing compares to plate armor for protection. * Tailoring : No Warrior in his right mind wants to wear cloth armor but a Warrior can still be a tailor if they want to. Bags will probably be your main goal here not only for yourself, but for others since bags are highly sought after goods. * Enchanting : You do not have to be a caster to be an enchanter. Enchanting allows you to enchant your own equipment. Find a much better magic sword then the one you are using? Disenchant the old one. Like any class that enchants, since you are disenchanting the items you find for materials, the gold you would otherwise gain from selling item suffers as a result. Start your profession early! It's usually not too expensive, and you want to ensure that the gear you create with your skills is applicable to your warrior's level. Secondary Professions * Cooking * Fishing * First Aid As a Warrior you have 4 ways to heal: time, eating, Potions, and First Aid. Fishing is useful in that it provides you with something to cook. Cooking lets you make better food and when "Well Fed," you gain a boost to Stamina and Spirit for fifteen minutes. More Stamina equals more hitpoints. First Aid is indispensable to a Warrior as it can really reduce your down-time between fights when soloing as well as removing those nasty poison effects with Antivenom. Long-Term Goals Warriors are very gear-dependant. Try to ensure you're always using the best weapons available for your level (and budget!) - use Thottbot to search for weapons/armour that you might want to aspire to. Make sure you keep your armor repaired as you'll be taking a lot of hits as the main tank in a group. Decide where you want to go with your Warrior Talents as these can make a big difference. Do you want to be more defensive or offensive oriented for example? See Warrior Tactics for more advanced information on Warriors, taking you beyond the first 10 levels. ---- Warrior,Starting Warrior,Starting